Watches have been a part of snowboarding for me since the early 1990s. They still are today in the cell phone era. I can’t tell you how often that people ask me on-hill, “what time is it?” I hate taking my cellphone out. It takes you right out of the moment. You also risk dropping it from the chairlift (happened to my wife last season…). Plus, in the back-country I’ve found that cellphones don’t work well and quickly lose power as they search for a signal.
G-Shock has recently released a Mudmaster series watch in collaboration with Burton. Burton Snowboards wrote the book on colabs in the mid-2000s. They always seem to nail the function and execution to make a “thing” become something special.
The Burton Mudmaster GGB100BTN-1A is no different. Details such as snow camo pattern on the strap differentiate this limited edition to the stock Mudmaster. Many of the patterns that Burton incorporates into their designs are from legendary snowboard photographer Dean Blotto Grey.
The shock resistance is interesting. I’ve never damaged my watch with severe impact on the case while snowboarding. I have broken plenty of spring bars from the torque of a crash though. The altimeter, barometer, thermometer and accelerometer functions would be both fun and handy. The GGB100BTN-1A features 38 time zones and 38 cities for riders that travel chasing the endless winter.
But are the new G-Shock Mudmaster GGB100BTN-1A even practical for snowboarding? It will be interesting to see if I’ll even see one of the Burton Mudmasters in the wild while snowboarding. Can you even sleeve a Mudmaster comfortably with gloves on? I don’t know. Finding out first-hand is an intriguing experiment.
I would be fibbing if I didn’t say that Nixion’s snowboarding sponsorships didn’t have an impact on me in the early 2000s. It’s nice to see watch sponsorships returning to snowboarding with G-Shock continuing their sponsorship of the US Open. With an MSRP of $440 USD, this Burton G-Shock GGB100BTN-1A isn’t cheap but will surely sell out on Casio’s online G-Shock store to a specialty audience with an eye for detail.
Burton <> Casio G-Shock Mudmaster GGB100BTN-1A Press Release
Greg is a long-time watch lover based in upstate New York. Greg is a supply chain professional by day and private watch consultant by night. Greg brings his own style to the TBWS website as a contributor by blending bits of humor into technical assessments. You can follow his cycling and snowboarding adventures on Instagram as he pursues the perfect 3-watch collection.